In August 2022, the Managing Director of the State Housing Corporation (SHC), Kwabena Ampofo Appiah, published a picture that, for many, gave the impression that the affordable housing units at Pusu Namoo, in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region had been completed and put up for sale.
The post came as a shock to many. President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, November 29, 2019, cut the sod for the construction of 120 Rock Estate affordable housing units at Pusu-Namoo. The affordable Rock Estate housing units, when completed, would comprise 2, 3, and 4-bedroom detached and semi-detached apartments.
After the MD’s publication, A1 Radio’s Gerard Asagi made attempts to reach the individual identified as the salesperson for the units, but all attempts proved futile.
Further checks from A1 Radio with the Bolgatanga branch of the Republic Bank revealed that though the bank is expected to have a mortgage arrangement with the SHC, they have not been briefed about the progress of work at the site.
A high-level source at the bank indicated that while the bank supports the SHC, it only aids prospective buyers with mortgages after the said houses are completed and put up for sale. This is in direct contradiction with the communication from the SHC.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Talensi Constituency, led by the then Constituency Secretary, Solomon TTB Zinekena, suggested that the post of the MD amounted to fraud.
“Critically examining the posture of the MD, one thing is certain and conspicuous: the Nana Addo government has very little to show for all the gargantuan and unprecedented resources of over GHc 500 billion that has accrued to them, such that, they have now resorted to fabricating and conjuring non-existent projects as achievements. This show of odious dishonesty by the MD is an insult to the good people of Talensi, Upper East and Ghana at large who have endured the insensitive economic policies, mismanagement, profligacy and corruption for close to six years now.”
It turns out that the post of the MD of the SHC was problematic for members of the NPP as well. This came to light when Peter Ayinbisa, the Communications Director of the NPP in the Upper East Region, spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show today about the progress of work on the facility.
“As it were, that was not what was there. I had issues with the State Housing Corporation. I had issues with them,” he said.
Mr. Ayinbisa, however, explained that despite the faux pax, there’s still commitment from the SHC and the government to ensure the completion of the facility.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
